SU adds 9 classes, 2 minors for Fall 2013
With course registration approaching in early April, Syracuse University has added several new courses and minors to begin in the fall of 2013.
Nine new courses in the College of Arts and Sciences, L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications were added for next year, according to a Feb. 13 University Senate Committee on Curricula report.
Two new minors were also added: a jazz studies minor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and a classic civilization minor in Arts and Sciences, according to the report.
Many of the new course options went through months of paperwork and lobbying before they were accepted by the Senate’s Committee on Curricula, according to the Senate website.
Maureen Breed, university registrar, said new course proposals must be approved by departmental curriculum committees, then school or colleges committees and finally, the Senate.
“Anybody that wants to propose a new course typically starts in the schools and colleges, often at the departmental level,” Breed said. “A faculty member might be interested in creating a course or the department wants to offer something, so there is a course proposal form.”
Breed noted that some courses are implemented on a temporary basis for a semester or two, with their continuation depending on students’ reception of the course. Breed said almost all of the courses that reach the Committee on Curricula are approved as courses or minors.
The political science department added two new classes this semester: PSC 759: “Crisis Management” and PSC 788: “Political Leadership.” Thomas Keck, chair of the political science department, said in an email that the political science program uses student feedback as a way to gauge the effectiveness of a course.
“Our undergraduate director conducts focus groups with graduating seniors to get feedback on their experience with the PSC major,” Keck said. “She also reviews course evaluations for all of our courses. In addition, I closely monitor our enrollment trends to assess what classes are in greatest demand.”
The new jazz studies minor is headed by Joseph Riposo, a Setnor School of Music professor who has been at SU for 28 years. He said he has made several attempts to create this minor, but they have fallen through during the course of his tenure. On Feb. 13, the Senate finally passed the minor.
Riposo said he was confident the current enrollment in the Setnor School of Music would carry into sufficient enrollment within the minor.
There are 20 students currently in ENI 520: “Jazz Ensemble” and 10-15 students in each of the two ENI 520: “Jazz Combo” classes offered. In addition, MTC 555: “Jazz Improvisation I” and MTC 556: “Jazz Improvisation II” have about 18 students each, he said.
Riposo said his motivation for creating the new minor is to make SU a place where students who want to focus on jazz can study
“I thought we needed to add breadth to the total curriculum that was being offered as a school,” Riposo said. “We’ve really never had a jazz minor, or any kind of jazz program. We’ve always offered a lot of jazz courses. But we were not attracting, at least at that time, students to come specifically to participate in a jazz minor.”
